<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Fire Unveiled by Oniboboni</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404213">Fire Unveiled</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oniboboni/pseuds/Oniboboni'>Oniboboni</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gen, Magicat Catra (She-Ra), Magicats (She-Ra), Princess Catra (She-Ra), They both need therapy, few major changes screw everything up, kind of canon compliant but not really</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:34:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,508</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404213</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oniboboni/pseuds/Oniboboni</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Magicat Catra AU, her real name is C'yra. Pretty much canon compliant, but the major difference is that Catra joins the PA from the beginning and Lonnie takes her place as the big bad.</p><p>I imagine the magicat to be ancient Egyptian-esk, so we can all see Catra decked out in gold and red gold. (Instead of blue, gold, and tan I'm going for a red, gold, and black theme.)</p><p>So Uh yea, enjoy :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>124</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Episode 1: The Sword, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You should've seen your face. You were like, "Aah, no! Betrayal." Catra dramatically slid down the locker.</p><p>Adora scoffed. "Come on, Catra. We're senior cadets now. I can't believe you're still pulling such childish, immature-- Is that a mouse?!"</p><p>"What!? Where!?" Catra spined around frantically.</p><p>Adora chuckled, pulling on her belt. "Are you ever going to not fall for that?"</p><p>Catra glared at Adora, "I don't know. Are you ever going to let it go? " she sighed,"That was one time."</p><p>Adora stifled her laughter, "I know, but for some reason it's always funny."</p><p>The locker room suddenly darkened  and Shadow Weaver entered, "Adora."</p><p>Adora straightened, "Shadow Weaver."</p><p>"You have done well. You've completed your training course in record time." Shadow Weaver hummed.</p><p>Adora pursed her lips, "Uh, well, that wasn't just me. You know, Catra did, too."</p><p>Shadow Weaver sneered, "Ah, yes. How someone as unmotivated as you completed the course in that time, I'll never know."</p><p>Catra folded her arms and glared up at Shadow Weaver, "Always serving up those pep talks, huh, Shadow Weaver?"</p><p>Shadow Weaver glared back down at her, "Silence. Do not be flippant with me, cadet."</p><p>Catra's tail flicked down, "Sorry Shadow Weaver."</p><p>Shadow Weaver turned from Catra to face Adora and she regained a pleasant tone. "Adora, walk with me."</p><p>Adora gulped and followed her out of the room, glancing back at Catra as she left.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Shadow Weaver took her out to the hall and began to speak, "Lord Hordak has been watching you. He thinks you are a fine candidate for Force Captain."</p><p>Adora looked up excited, "Really? Force Captain? Lord Hordak said that about me?"<br/>Shadow Weaver nodded, " Oh yes. He sees great promise in you." she looked down at Adora, " In fact, he has elected you the honor of leading a squadron in the invasion of the rebel Fortress of Thaymor. "</p><p>Adora paused, "Thaymor? You mean we're finally seeing active duty?"</p><p>Shadow Weaver shook her head, "You are seeing active duty."</p><p>Adora tilted her head in confusion, "But I'll be able to bring my team along, right?"</p><p>Shadow Weaver stopped walking and turned to fully face Adora, "Your team is not ready. They'll only slow you down."</p><p>Adora clenched her teeth, "Shadow Weaver, with respect, they've been training hard for this, too. And Catra, all she wants is to get out there and prove herself."</p><p>Shadow Weaver glared, the hallway going cold, "Then she should have worked harder to prove herself to me. This is what I raised you for, Adora. Now is your chance to prove yourself. I saw talent in you the moment I found you as an orphan child and took you in. Is this not what you've wanted since you were old enough to want anything?"</p><p>Adora sighed, "Yes."</p><p>Shadow Weaver's cold aura dropped from the hall as she handed Adora a badge, "With you at the forefront, we will crush the Bright Moon Rebellion once and for all. Do not disappoint me."</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>The queen sat regally on her throne, anf gestured to the door at the end of the throne room, "Send her in."</p><p>A pair of guards moved to open the doors, and a young teenager walked in, "Your Majesty." she kneeled before the queen. </p><p>Queen Angella looked down at her,"I'm told you disobeyed orders and led the Rebellion into a dangerous combat situation after you were ordered to retreat."</p><p>Glimmer's jaw clenched, "I was trying to protect a village from falling into The Horde's grasp."</p><p>Angella sat forward, "You were reckless and put yourself and the other rebels in danger."<br/>Glimmer glared up at the queen, "Fighting is supposed to be dangerous! How are we going to hold our own against The Horde if we keep retreating? Pretty soon, we won't have anything left to defend."</p><p>Angella rubbed her temples, "I'm growing tired of your back-talking, Commander Glimmer."</p><p>Glimmer sighed angrily, "Why did you even make me a commander if you won't let me fight?"</p><p>Angella's head snapped up and she stood. Her luminous wings spreading quickly behind her, "That's enough! You're grounded!"</p><p>Glimmer scoffed and crossed her arms, "Mom!"</p><p>Angella raised an eyebrow, "You heard me!"<br/>Glimmer grunted and scuffed the floor with her shoe, "You never let me do anything!"</p><p>"We are not having this discussion tonight. You are embarrassing me in front of my royal court." she gestured to the guards stationed against the walls who glanced nervously at one another. </p><p>Glimmer spread her arms, "Oh, I'm embarrassing you?"</p><p>"Go to your room!" Angella angrily pointed to the door. Glimmer was already heading that way.</p><p>"I'm going!" she yelled out behind her.<br/>Once she was gone, Angella sighed and collapsed back into her throne, "What am I going to do with her, Micha." she whispered to the wind.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Adora was on her way back to the barracks when she was suddenly flat on her back staring into two blue and yellow eyes.</p><p>Catra was immediately asking questions "What'd she say? Hey, what's this?" She grabbed the badge off of Adora's shirt, and jumped up to a ledge to inspect it.</p><p>Adora quickly picked herself up from the floor, "Hey! Give it back."</p><p>Catra's eyes widened when she recognized the badge, "No way. You've been promoted?" she smiled down at Adora.</p><p>Adora rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "Well, kind of. I mean, yeah, I guess. Heh. But it's not a big deal." she tried to shrug it off, but Catra was having none of it.</p><p>Catra jumped back down and grabbed Adora's shoulders, "Are you kidding? That is awesome. We're gonna see the world and conquer it." Her usually slit pupils grew to be as big as Etheria's closest moon, "Adora, I need to blow something up."  Catra started to purr, adding to the effect.</p><p>Adora winced.</p><p>Catra suddenly reverted back to her normal, unflappable appearance, "What?"</p><p>Adora looked at the ground and muttered out, "Shadow Weaver says you're not coming."</p><p>Catra physically recoiled, "What? My time was just as good as yours today. What is her problem with me?" </p><p>Adora started playing with her hands and didn't meet Catra's eyes, "I mean, you are kind of disrespectful."</p><p>Catra scoffed, "Why should I respect her? She's just bitter that she doesn't have any real power that doesn't come from Hordak and everyone knows it. I guess it sure must be easy being a people pleaser like you." she turned angrily and started making her way up the side of the wall.</p><p>"I am not a pe-- Catra, wait."  Adora looked up to find Catra slipping out of her vision.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Adora found Catra in one of the highest parts of the compound, staring off into the horizon, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't even think you wanted to be a Force Captain."</p><p>"I don't." Catra sighed and flung the badge at Adora, "Here, take your stupid badge."<br/>Adora was getting a little bid fed up with Cata's attitude at this point, "Come on, Catra. This is what I have been working for my entire life. I was hoping you could be, I don't know, happy for me."</p><p>Catra sighed "Ugh, whatever. It's not like I even care. I just wanna get out of this dump at some point before I die of boredom." she looked back out to the horizon, "I wonder what's even outside the Fright Zone anyway."</p><p>Adora's eyes lit up with an idea "Why don't we go find out?"</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Catra laughed at the wind blowing through her fur,"I take it all back. You're officially awesome. I can't believe you actually stole a skiff."</p><p>Adora rolled her eyes, "Borrowed. Please don't make me regret this."</p><p>"I've always wanted to drive one of these things. Here, gimme." she reached for the throttle.</p><p>"Whoa, there. Save us enough fuel to get back." she glanced over at Catra for a moment.</p><p>Her hand did not falter, "That's a problem for future Adora and Catra." she sassed.</p><p>Adora tried to wrangle the controls from Catra, making their ride a rather bumpy one.</p><p>Catra yelled out into the night, "Can't have it!" only to be tacked by Adora, screaming all the way down.</p><p>Catra growled out, "Let me."<br/>Adora shook her head, "Give me. I'm doing it."</p><p>"Adora. I want it."</p><p>"No, I've got it."</p><p>She glared at the blonde's smug face, just before pouncing.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Catra turned to look at Adora's face as they neared some woods, "What is it?"<br/>Adora looked on in equal awe and fear, "I think this must be the Whispering Woods. They say there are strange, old monsters in there, an- and the trees move when you're not looking. Every Horde squadron they've sent in there has never come out again."</p><p>Catra gave her a shit eating grin before speeding up, "Let's go in."</p><p>Adora took a moment to process what was happening, "Wait, what?" her eyes widened, "Catra, no!"</p><p>"Woo-hoo! " Catra's laughter and Adora's yells continued wellington the woods as they narrowly missed several obstacles.</p><p>Adora's eyes widened as she spotted a tree directly in their path, "Catra, slow down! Catra, tree! Tr-- oof."</p><p>"Adora!" Catra stopped the skiff and ran back over to her downed friend.</p><p>Just as she reached Adora, she felt a strange tug in her gut, something was making a humming sound, It wasn't unlike the sound the Black Garnet made when you get close to it, but it was steadier. A hell of a lot louder too.</p><p>For some reason, Catra's first instinct was to follow it, before she remembered that a tree branch had just knocked her best friend twenty feet away, so she should probably check on her. </p><p>She shook her head and sat over Adora, shaking her shoulders and saying her name trying to wake her up.</p><p>Adora slowly blinked awake, "Catra? What happened?"</p><p>Catra began checking her over for injuries, "You fell out of the skiff after you drove it into a tree."</p><p>Adora glared and pushed her off, "No, you drove it into a tree."</p><p>"Ah, up for debate. Come on, let's go."  she stood and helped Adora off the ground.<br/>Adora looked sound for a moment confused, </p><p>"Wait. Where is it? Where'd it go?"</p><p>Catra tilted her head, "What?"</p><p>"Ther- There was a sword. It was right here. I tried to touch it, but it got really bright."  She gestured around the space they were standing.</p><p>Catra raised an eyebrow, "Are you brain damaged? Don't be brain damaged. Oh, Shadow Weaver's gonna kill me." </p><p>Adora glared at her, "I'm not brain damaged. It was here, I saw it."</p><p>"Well, there's nothing here now. So, come on, let's go." Catra helped Adora back onto the skiff, and as they left the forest behind, the humming didn't quiet, and her gut never settled. Both she and Adora went to bed that night deep in thought.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Glimmer sat in her bed writing a very aggressive venting letter to her mother, that she would probably burn after it was completed. "Dear Mom, I know you'll never read this, but I have to say it somewhere. I feel like you... don't respect me." She picked her pen off the paper, and nearly fell off her bed  as a gold arrow pierced the wall right next to her head, "Ack- Watch it! You almost hit me!"</p><p>The culprit yelled from the other side of her window, standing at the edge of the cliff separating the Whispering Woods from Brightmoon "Hey, Glimmer!"</p><p>Glimmer frantically shushed him and whispered across the chasm, "Shh! Bow, what are you doing here?"</p><p>Bow yelled out, "What did you say? Come down here!"</p><p>Glimmer whispered again, "I can't, I'm grounded."</p><p>"What!?"</p><p>"I'm grounded"</p><p>"...What!?"</p><p>"I'm...-" she teleported to his side and teleported back into her room, Bow in tow "-grounded."</p><p>Bow jumped in surprise.</p><p>Glimmer collapsed dramatically back into her bed, "I'm so mad at my mom."</p><p>Bow compulsively started to clean up the pig sty Glimmer called a room, "Is this about the siege on Elberon?"</p><p>Glimmer groaned, "I was just trying to defend another one our villages from falling into The Horde's Clutches. She stationed me all the way out here because it's too remote to ever get attacked, but then it did, and it was my one chance to prove that I can do this. But she acts like I can't do anything because I'm just a princess."  she huffed.</p><p>Bow looked up confused, "That doesn't make any sense. Everyone here is a princess. I'm, like, the only one who's not a princess."</p><p>Glimmer sighed, "Tell that to my mom."<br/>"Hey, where does this go?" He held up a pair of socks.</p><p>Glimmer glanced over, "Bottom drawer."<br/>He nodded, "Anyway, your mom might have a point. Only reason you got out of there is because of your teleportation powers, and, let's face it, they don't always work that well."</p><p>Glimmer glared over at his back, "Looking for support here, Bow!"</p><p>Bow put up his hands in defense, "I'm just saying, if you wanna prove yourself, it's gonna take more than running recklessly into any old battle. Luckily, I've got just the thing. Check this out. I detected a piece of First Ones tech in the Whispering Woods. A pretty powerful one, too, by the size of these readings. If you find this one and bring it back, your mom is bound to be impressed."</p><p>Glimmer only offered him a deadpan, "Did you forget I'm grounded?"</p><p>Before Bow had a chance to respond, there was a knock at the door.</p><p>"Glimmer? Are you in there?" Angella called from the other side of the door.</p><p>Glimmer looked around frantically, "Uh..."</p><p>Bow was then teleported back out to the cliff, "Ah!"</p><p>Angella heard him yelp and tried once again, "Glimmer?"</p><p>Glimmer teleported back "Everything's fine, Mom."</p><p>"Is someone else in there? I heard voices." </p><p>"No one else is in here. Can you please just leave me alone?" Glimmer tried.</p><p>"I don't appreciate your tone right now, young lady." she sternly stated.</p><p>Glimmer looked through the crack in the door, "What tone?"</p><p>Angella sighed, "That attitude of yours is never gonna help you know."</p><p>Glimmer's voice started to raise, "Mom, you always tell me what to do-"</p><p>She cut her off "You cannot act that way!"</p><p>"-And that's not fair!"</p><p>Glimmer slammed the door in her mother's face before teleporting to Bow's side on the cliff. "I'm in."</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Catra just could not sleep well with the constant buzzing in the back of her mind, and apparently neither could Adora. She felt the bed shift as Adora woke up from her nightmare and got out of bed. She looked far too determined to be getting a drink from the mess hall.</p><p>Catra slowly stood and followed her down the hall. "Hey, where are you going?"</p><p>Adora looked caught off guard for a moment before relaxing, "Back to the woods. There's something I need to figure out."</p><p>Catra looked at her skeptically, "What? You're not--"</p><p>She was cut off by a robot passing through the call, quickly pulling Adora and herself out of sight. Once the robot passed, the stepped back out into the hall.</p><p>"What is wrong with you? You've been acting weird since we got back. Are you sure you're not brain damaged?" Catra grabbed Adora's face and inspected it as if she could see if she was still hurt.</p><p>Adora pulled away and sighed, "Look Catra, I know I saw something out there. It's ju- I just need to get another look. It feels important <br/>somehow."</p><p>Catra nodded, "Sounds good. Let's go." As much as she didn't want to admit it, she wanted to figure out why she kept hearing that annoying humming. </p><p>Adora shook her head, "No. I don't want you getting in trouble on my behalf. Just cover for me okay? I'll be back before anyone knows I'm gone." Catra grabbed her arm before she could run out to the skiffs.</p><p>"Adora, look, I don't know what you saw there that made you want to go back, but I heard some stuff there too, and I want to figure out what the hell it is. So you either go without me and I follow, or we go together."</p><p>Adora looked at her for a minute, trying to see if she was messing around or not. FInally she caved, "Fine, come on. I'm driving though."<br/>Catra pouted, but otherwise made no complaints as they made their way out into the night.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>The moment the skiff stopped, Catra hopped off and started following her ears, "Go find whatever you need to, I'll meet you back here soon."</p><p>Adora turned to her, "What-" she stopped suddenly and turned in a different direction. "Yeah ok, meet back here."</p><p>They both took off in different directions, and Catra followed the humming for about an hour to what looked to be city ruins. Most of the buildings were destroyed, but it was clear that this was once a great city, and the Horde bots littering the paths were a clear sign of the culprit.</p><p>Catra always knew that the Horde wasn't good, but she had never seen the extent of their evil. She was utterly repulsed to say the least.<br/>Climbing over a destroyed archway, she seemed to be faced with a cliff covered in vines. The humming was coming from within the cliff, so Catra inspected every nook and cranny of it. Eventually she pulled away some vines and found herschel staring at a rune carving, etched into the cliffside.</p><p>Curiously, she traced the rune with her finger, and as she was inspecting it, part of the cliff next to it up.</p><p>"Ack-" Catra almost lost her grip on the vine and tried to regain her balance.</p><p>The sound of stone grinding against stone brought Catra back to reality. In place of the cliff face was a large arched doorway.</p><p>Catra found that the humming had grown louder, almost impatient for her to reach the origin. To make whatever was making the noise shut up, Catra hopped down into the cave entrance, and crept ever closer.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>"Come on! Come on!" Bow shook his tablet in a feeble attempt to get it to work.</p><p>"Please tell me we're not lost!" Glimmer looked at him skeptically.</p><p>Bow shook his head, "No, this thing is just acting up. Looks like it's being overloaded by the tech's signal. We must be getting close!"</p><p>Glimmer looked around the endless trees, "Uhh... I think it's that way.' she pointed out the glowing bush to Bow.</p><p>"What makes you say that?" He looked up from his trackpad and followed Glimmer's gaze, "Oh, yeah. That'll do it."</p><p>Adora swatted at a branch, "What are you doing out here, Adora? Catra's right, this is crazy. There's no sword, you just got hit on the head a little too hard. You should just go back home and forget about all of this." She sighed and pushed through another couple of branches before she saw the glow of the sword out of the corner of her eye.</p><p>"Bow, just let me lead the way, okay?"</p><p>Bow nodded, "The light came from over that way."</p><p>"Yes, you saw the light. It's this way."</p><p>Bow looked down at his pad, "The trackpad says otherwise."</p><p>Glimmer huffed, "It's this way--"</p><p>Bow and Glimmer look up at the random person approaching the sword.</p><p>All three people gasp in surprise at the appearance of the other.</p><p>Glimmer looked away from her face, and noticed she had a Horde badge on, "Horde soldier!"</p><p>Bow pulled out his bow and charged, "I see her!"</p><p>The pair scream and tackle the still confused Adora to the ground.</p><p>Adora gasped and struggled underneath Bow.<br/>Glimmer ran over to the sword and pulled it free of the roots, "Bow, catch."</p><p>Adora began struggling harder, "Give me the sword."</p><p>Adora managed to free herself, going to wrestle Glimmer for the sword.</p><p>Adora grunted out, "Get off. Stand down. I don't wanna hurt you.'</p><p>"Since when do Horde soldiers not want to hurt anyone?"</p><p>Adora managed to touch the hilt of the sword and her vision turned white.</p><p>"What the hell?" Adora looked around the white space.</p><p>A voice broke the silence. "Hello, Adora."</p><p>Adora turned, trying to find the voice's origin, "Who are you? What's going on?"</p><p>"My name is Light Hope. I have been waiting a long time for you, but I could not reach you until you forged your connection with the sword."</p><p>Adora paused in her endeavor, "You sent the sword?"</p><p>Light Hope spoke again, "The sword is meant for you. Etheria has need of you, Adora. Will you answer its call? Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?"</p><p>Adora's heart rate started to speed up as a number of images flashed before her, "What are you talking about? What-- What is-- What's Grayskull? You're not making any sense! I don't understand!"</p><p>"You will."</p><p>"Wait!" Adora reached out before everything went black.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>It took Catra far too long for her taste to reach the end of the tunnel. It was a plain stone tunnel  gradually sloping downwards with no lighting at all. Catra was very thankful for her night vision at that moment. </p><p>When she finally reached the end, she was standing on a ledge looking over a rather large cavern with large vines hanging from the ceiling. She looked down and was beyond surprised to see an entire city with similar architecture to the ruins just above them.</p><p>Upon further inspection, she found the city bustling with activity. There were stores, restaurants, small cat-like children running around an obstacle course. Catra looked closer at the other people there. They all had cat tails and ears- Catra wondered to herself, "Is this why I was brought here?" </p><p>She was soon answered as the humming which had gone nearly silent when she entered that cavern, began again with even more fever. Catra groaned, "So no."</p><p>She inspected the cavern more, this time looking for what would be calling to her. She was drawn to the large castle at the other end of the cavern, specifically the jagged glowing stone just above it.</p><p>Catra found herself leaping from vine to vine, heading directly for the orange and red crystal. The closer she got to the crystal, the louder the humming was. At last when she was right next to it, the humming stopped. <br/>Catra recognized the energy coming from the crystal, she realized that it wasn't a crystal at all. It was a runestone. "Oh shit..."</p><p>Catra was about to turn away, when she heard a door opening. She leapt back up into the vines and watched the woman walk up to the runestone and resting her hand on it. "Who are you calling to? C'yra is dead. I've accepted that, don't give me false hope that my baby is still alive..."</p><p>The woman reached up and pulled something from her brow. It was a blood red mask so much like her own the only difference was the gold accents. Catra felt a shiver run down her spine as the woman turned toward her and slid down the side of the wall.</p><p>Catra gasped as the woman's face came into view. Two yellow eyes stared off into the cavern, she had the same facial structure as Catra, slightly lower cheekbones, but everything else was like looking in a mirror. </p><p>Catra sat there for who knows how long, analyzing the woman's appearance and comparing it to her own. <br/>They both had the same color fur, the same eye shape, the same mouth, the same everything! </p><p>She was broken from her thoughts by the door opening once again. This time, a man that must have been twice the woman's age walked through. Now this man looked nothing like either of them. His fur was a dark brown, even darker than Lonnie's hair, and his eyes were a bright emerald green. "Your Majesty, why is your crown on the floor?"</p><p>The Catra lookalike was apparently royalty. Good to know. "That's because I took it off Akil." she grumbled.</p><p>"It is unbecoming of a queen to not wear her crown Bast." he looked down at her like he was lecturing  a child.</p><p>"Not this again," Bast sighed, "I understand it's your job as my advisor to whack me into shape, but can you at least do it without sounding condescending?"</p><p>Akil seemed to look genuinely confused, "I sound condescending?"</p><p>Without realizing it both females gave him the same look. "Oh can it you old git, you know exactly what you're doing." </p><p>He just smiled and helped the queen to her feet, "Yes my queen I do." he grabbed the discarded mask from the floor and placed it back on Bast's brow. "Now the queen has her crown, and a meeting she is already late for."</p><p>Bast's eyes widened, "Oh shit," she bolted past him and disappeared back through the door.<br/>He chuckled to himself, then paused and looked directly at Catra's hiding place. "Who is up there?" Catra stayed stock still and steadied her breathing. Akil glared up at her, then jumped up and tried to grab her.</p><p>Luckily Catra was small and quick, she managed to evade his grasp but he recovered and landed on the next vine over. He dove for her again, taking her in the back and pinning her to the ground below.</p><p>"It is well known that the runestone platform is strictly off limits to citizens so why, pray tell, are you up here?" He pinned Catra's hands to her back, and sat on her legs to keep her from moving. "Tell me why you're here and your punishment may--"</p><p>Akil froze at the sight of her mask- that she now knew was actually a crown- clattering to the ground beside her. It managed to get knocked off in the fall.</p><p>Catra hardly noticed his pause, "For your information old dude, there was this stupid humming that was annoying me when I was walking through the woods. I followed it and ended up here. So pray tell, what does that reasoning do for my punishment." She mocked his accent.</p><p>Akil did not respond. Instead he reached for the crown and held it up to the light of the runestone. After he inspected it, he loosened his grip enough so Catra could slip out from under him. He looked up at her in a strange kind of awe, like he was seeing a ghost. "C'yra..." He gave a breathy laugh, "Holy shit you look like your mother."</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Adora groaned and opened her eyes.<br/>"Hey! She's awake." Bow called out to Glimmer.</p><p>Adora squinted in the harsh sunlight, "What happened?"</p><p>Glimmer glared down at her, "Quiet, Horde spy, I ask the questions. How did you make it this far into the Whispering Woods?"</p><p>Adora's brow drew together, "I just walked in. And I'm not a spy."</p><p>Glimmer hummed unconvinced, "Sure, sure. You just so happened to find yourself in the Whispering Woods, like you just so happened to try and steal our sword."</p><p>"It's not yours. I found it first." Adora practically pouted.</p><p>Glimmer looked her in the eyes "The Whispering Woods is under the Rebellion's protection. You were lucky to make it as far as you did. Come on, Bow. Let's get this spy back to Bright Moon where she can be interrogated properly. This is perfect. Not only do we First Ones tech for the rebellion, we've also captured a Horde spy. My mom's gonna be so impressed. Now come on, on your feet." she looked way too smug for Adora's taste.</p><p>Bow batted away another branch from his path, "You positive we're going the right way, Glimmer?"</p><p>"I know what I'm doing, Bow. Can you please just trust me for once?"</p><p>Bow turned to her, "You know I always trust you, but I'm starting to get a little freaked out. I mean, I pretty much grew up in these woods and I've never even seen this part of them. I've heard stories about weird stuff out here."</p><p>Glimmer sighed, "It's fine, okay? Just let me figure this out." she teleported ahead of them.</p><p>Bow winced, "Okay! Touchy." he turned to Adora, "Sorry about her. Usually she's really nice. Not much for talking, huh?"</p><p>Adora glared at him, "I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors."</p><p>Bow shrugged, "Fair. Suit yourself."</p><p>After a minute of walking in silence, Adora couldn't help herself, "You know she's a princess, right? How can you follow her? Princesses are a dangerous threat to everyone on Etheria."</p><p>Bow gave her a weird look, "Is that what Hordak told you?"</p><p>Adora returned it, "Well I thought it was just common knowledge. They're violet instigators who don't even know how to control their powers."</p><p>"You've never actually met a princess, have you?"</p><p>Adora huffed, "Well, maybe not in person, but..." she was cut off quickly by the sight before them.</p><p>She looked around and inspected the destroyed village. "What happened to this place." She eyed a rather nasty slash in one of the nearby walls.</p><p>Glimmer glared at her, "Don't play dumb with me. I bet you were part of the raiding party that did this."</p><p>Adora raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about? The Horde didn't do this."<br/>"Oh yeah? You're a heartless destroyer, just like all the rest of your people." Glimmer huffed out.</p><p>"I'm not a destroyer. Hordak says we're doing what's best for Etheria. We're trying to make things better. More orderly."Adora retaliated.</p><p>Glimmer gestured around them, "This is what's best for Etheria? Ever since The Horde got here, they've been poisoning our land, burning our cities, destroying everything in their path. And you're a part of it! How's that for orderly?"</p><p>Adora looked around confused, "This doesn't make any sense. The Horde would never do something like this."</p><p>Bow's strange look returned, "Did you really not know any of this? I mean, your army is called the Evil Horde."</p><p>Adora physically recoiled from him and took up a defensive stance, "Who calls us that?"<br/>Bow scoffed, "...Everybody!"</p><p>Adora glared at him, "The Horde rescued me when I was a baby and gave me a home. They're my family. You-- you don't know them like I do."</p><p>Bow sighed, "Maybe you don't know them like you think you do."</p><p>Their conversation was cut off by Glimmer's yelp, "There's something out there. Something big." she was coming back in their direction.</p><p>Bow pulled out his bow, "How big?"</p><p>The ground rumbled and trees were pushed aside as an enormous bug like creature emerged from the shadows.</p><p>Bow gulped, "So, pretty big then.'</p><p>The creature lunged.</p><p>"Watch out!" Bow tackled Adora out of the way and Glimmer teleported above it. She unleashed a barrage of attacks to the creature's back, but was quickly swatted away.</p><p>This gave Adora and Bow to recover from their fall.</p><p>"Hey, bug brain! Come on, Magic Sword. Oh, where's a blinding flash of light when you need one?" and a blinding flash of light came.</p><p>She heard Light Hope again, "Adora. Adora. Adora." a baby wailing interrupted her. <br/>"Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?" The voice was everywhere and nowhere at once, ".. honor of Grayskull?"</p><p>Adora did what felt right, and repeated the mantra, "For the honor of Grayskull!" and a  bright light encompassed the clearing.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Sword, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Catra blinked at him, “What?”</p><p>This response seemed to catch Akil off guard, “Wh-What do you mean ‘what’ I said you looked like your mother.”</p><p>“Yeah that, what does that mean?” Akil stared at her incredulously.</p><p>“Please tell me you know what a mother is C’yra.”</p><p>His disapproving gaze made Catra wince, “Would it be bad if I said no?”</p><p>Akil stood up fully and held the bridge of his nose in his hands, “If the Horde didn’t teach you what a mother is, what else are you missing out on?” He whispered to himself before turning back to Catra, “Well, a mother is a woman that raises you, teaches you how to walk. How to hunt for yourself, all of those basic life skills.”</p><p>Catra tried to connect that to something she was familiar with, “So like a commanding officer?”</p><p>“If a commanding officer loves and cares for you, then yes. But I doubt there was much love in the Horde.” He mused.</p><p>“You’re not wrong there,” Catra shrugged.</p><p>Akil looked over at her and realized just how small C’yra was. She should have been about a foot taller by now. She was nearly 18 and she looked like a kit. “What do they even feed you there? Plants?”</p><p>Catra gave him a weird look, “No, we eat ration bars. What else are we supposed to have?”</p><p>Akil spluttered for a moment, “No wonder you look so small! They’re starving you! Come on let's get some meat in you.” He guided the very confused Catra to the door before pausing. “Shit, I can’t take you down there.”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“So you know how your mom is queen right?” He looked at her expectantly.</p><p>“I don’t know what that is.” she deadpanned and watched him practically deflate.</p><p>“Mom is a shortened version of mother. A queen is the ruler of a kingdom but you probably knew that one.” he took a deep breath, “Your mother, the person who gave birth to you, is the ruler of this kingdom. You look very similar to her and as the princess, you are also very recognizable. If you were to go down there and show the people that the presumed dead princess was actually alive, there would be absolute chaos. Do you follow?”</p><p>Catra sat there for a moment taking in the information before she was smacked in the face by a revelation. “Wait wait wait, I’m a princess?” she saw his exasperated expression before continuing, “I understand why I can’t go down there because of my mom or whatever. I believe that she is my mother because I look nearly identical to her, I would be an idiot to think we weren’t related but-- Adora hates princesses, if she finds out she’ll hate me. Shit, what am I gonna do?” Catra’s ears were pinned to her head as she thought more about it.</p><p>She was broken from her spiraling thoughts by Akil’s hand on her shoulder, “Ok, C’yra I need you to look me in the eye.” Once she did he continued, “I don’t know who this Adora person is, but if she is as close to you as you’re making it out to be, she’ll hear you out. Here,” he placed the crown back on her brow just like he did for Bast minutes before. “Now C’yra I’m going to go get you some food, I want you to stay by the amber-- don’t touch it-- and wait for me to come back.”</p><p>She nodded up at him, “Yeah ok.” She sat down on the railing and looked down over the cavern, lost in thought about how the hell she was supposed to make Adora listen to her.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Bow shielded his eyes from the flash, and when it faded he could only gape in awe. “Glimmer?”</p><p>“Yeah, I see her, Bow.” She sounded just as shocked as he was to see an eight-foot-tall buff lady in the place of the Horde soldier.</p><p>“Okay. I wanted to make sure it wasn't just me.”  The woman points her sword at the creature, and it immediately retreated from the clearing.</p><p>Adora felt a flash of heat encompass her body, and looked down. The floor was significantly farther away.“Huh?”</p><p>Glimmer regained her wits and tried to tackle Adora reaching for the sword.</p><p>“Stay where you are!”</p><p>Adora pulled the sword out of her reach, “What did you do to me?”</p><p>Glimmer scoffed, “What do you mean what did 'I' do to you?”</p><p>Adora looked down at herself again and gestured to herself wildly, “I didn't know being a princess was contagious!”</p><p>Bow put his hands out, desperately trying to placate the rising tensions, “Okay, okay, everyone, calm down! Wanna tell us how you did that?”</p><p>Adora turned to him, “I didn't do anything. All I did was pick up the sword, and then, whoosh, I'm in a tiara!”</p><p>“ I don't care how she did it. We just have to make sure she never does it again!” She reached for the sword again and succeeded in wrenching it from Adora’s grip.</p><p>The creature returned the moment Adora was back in her red jacket.</p><p>The trio looked at one another and dove out of the way.</p><p>Bow tossed Adora the sword from Glimmer’s grip. “Do it again! Do it again!”</p><p>Glimmer sighed, “Bow!”</p><p>He paid her no mind, “Do what you did before!”</p><p>Adora looked at him desperately, “I don't know what I did before!”</p><p>Glimmer teleported over to them and forced them to run, “No time! We have to go!”</p><p>They only managed to run a handful of yards before they took a tumble down a cliffside.</p><p>Adora looked around their new location and gaped at the large pyramid structure in the distance, “What is this place?” </p><p>Bow pulled them toward the structure as the creature roared again, “No idea, but it's gotta be better than out here.’ </p><p>Bow tried pulling on the door to open it to no avail, “Everyone, grab on, I can get us in there!”</p><p>“Glimmer, no! You've never teleported three people before.” Bow stopped her.</p><p>“Do you have a better idea?” she asked.</p><p>They gasped as the creature made its way into the clearing.</p><p>Adora inspected the carving, “What's written on this door? It looks like some kind of password.”</p><p>Bow gave her a strange look, “You can read that?”</p><p>Adora returned it, “You can't?”</p><p>“What's it say?” Bow challenged.</p><p>”Uh, ‘Eternia.’” The door slid open before them.</p><p>“Oh, come on!” Glimmer groaned.</p><p>The trio made it into the structure moments before the creature reached them.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>“So, Horde soldier, have you always been able to read First Ones' writing?” Bow glared suspiciously at Adora.</p><p>“Wanna tell us what exactly is going on here?” Glimmer piggybacked.</p><p>Adora shrugged, “I told you I don't know I just read the word on the door.”</p><p>Glimmer was far from convinced, “Right... You read a word in a language that no one's spoken for a thousand years, and the door just opened into a mysterious ancient ruin. Sure.”</p><p>“You think I did this on purpose? You think I wanted to be a princess? Princesses are monsters.”</p><p>Glimmer recoiled, “Monsters? You're the monster!”</p><p>“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Glimmer, she did save us.” Bow tried being the voice of reason.</p><p>Glimmer shrugged him off, “I don't care! We can't just trust her, Bow. Or have you forgotten everything the Horde's done to us? The people we've lost... We need to find another way out of here and get her back to Bright Moon as soon as possible. My mother will know what to do with her.” she grumpily walked ahead of them.</p><p>Bow sighed and tried to talk Adora down from murdering Glimmer because she looked moments away from doing it. “Hey, so, thanks for saving us from that bug thing back there when you could've escaped instead.”</p><p>“Okay, well I didn't save you. I just wanted to get the sword, okay?”</p><p>“Are you sure it's not because you secretly like us?” he tried.</p><p>Adora chuckled, “Wh--? I don't like you. You're my captors.”</p><p>Bow glanced at her knowingly “Sure.”</p><p>Conversation stopped for the moment in favor of silence but was broken soon by Bow. “Thanks for saving us anyway. I'm Bow, by the way.”</p><p>“Adora.”</p><p>"Adora." Ah. Weird name for a Horde soldier.”</p><p>Adora glanced at him, “Is it?”</p><p>Ahead of them, glimmer whispered to herself, looking at the sword’s reflection, “For the honor of Grayskull.”</p><p>Bow snuck up behind her, “What are we doing?” she yelped.</p><p>“Nothing! I mean, uhh.. Look at these carvings. I think this might be a First Ones' ruin.” she diverted.</p><p>“What's a First One?” Adora asked.</p><p>Glimmer paused, “You've never heard of the First Ones?”</p><p>Bow took it upon himself to share the history, “The First Ones are the original settlers of Etheria. They disappeared a thousand years ago, but they left behind a lot of old ruins and technology. Like this place.”</p><p>“So, what happened to them?” Adora pressed.</p><p>“No one knows. They just disappeared. The Horde didn't tell you about them?”</p><p>Adora sighed and muttered to herself, “Seems like there's a lot the Horde didn't tell me.”</p><p>Glimmer groaned, “Ugh. How do we get out of here?”</p><p>Bow sighed, “It'll take forever to find a way out at this rate.” He gasped, “Hey! Wanna turn on some lights, Adora?”</p><p>“I don't know how to do that.”</p><p>Bow didn’t lose hope, “Maybe there's a magic word. Ooh, what's the First Ones' word for "lights"?”</p><p>Adora shrugged, “I don't know. I'm not magic.”</p><p>Glimmer rolled her eyes, “Obviously. Everyone, stand back.” She started to build magic in her hands before Bow interrupted her.</p><p>“Uh, Glimmer? Maybe you should take it easy. We're a long way from Bright Moon. It'll be a while until you can recharge.” He warned.</p><p>Glimmer looked over embarrassed, “Bow!”</p><p>Adora raised her eyebrow, “You have to recharge your powers?”</p><p>“Can we not talk about this in front of the Horde soldier? Now, stand back.” She launched a large ball of light towards the ceiling, illuminating the room.</p><p>Adora watched in awe, “Whoa.”</p><p>Glimmer groaned catching their attention.</p><p>“Wow. Are you okay?” Bow put a hand on her shoulder that was quickly swept away.</p><p>“I'm fine, Bow.”</p><p>Bow glanced up at the now illuminated room, a carving catching his eye, “Oh hey! That's you!”</p><p>Adora’s eyebrows pulled together, “What? That doesn't look anything like me.”</p><p>“No, I mean, the other you. The scary one in the cape.” He explained.</p><p>“That was me?”</p><p>“You can read that inscription, right? What's it say?”</p><p>Adora looked at it and read it to them, “It says... ‘She-Ra.’”</p><p>The room seemed to come alive and all the lights turned on, a hologram stood in front of them. “Greetings, administrator.”</p><p>“What is this thing?” Adora looked at her in shock.</p><p>“What is your query?”</p><p>Bow answered Adora, “I think it's some kind of ancient hologram.”</p><p>“What is your query?” The hologram repeated.</p><p>“Uh... Hi. What is this place? How do we get out of here?” Bow asked.</p><p>“What is your query?”</p><p>Bow sighed, “Welp. She's broken.”</p><p>Glimmer looked around, “She's old. I'm surprised any of this stuff still works at all.”</p><p>“Administrator not detected. Lockdown initiated.” The room started flashing red and alarms started blaring.</p><p>Glimmer yelled out, “I didn't do it!”</p><p>Bow frantically turned to Adora, “No. No. No lockdown! No lockdown! Adora, you gotta get it to stop!”</p><p>“What makes you think I can?” she asked just as frazzled.</p><p>“Query not recognized.” </p><p>“There's gotta be a password or something!”</p><p>“Uh, stop it! Uh, Eternia! Eternia!” she tried to no avail, turning to Glimmer, “Give me the sword!”</p><p>Glimmer blanched, “What? No!”</p><p>“We need the scary lady in the cape. I don't know how, but she's the key to this place, so maybe she can get us out.” she tried.</p><p>Glimmer didn’t budge “You're a Horde soldier. I'm not giving you the sword.”</p><p>The room started to collapse around them as Adora tried once more, “Eternia! Uh, cape! Uh... She-Ra!”</p><p>Glimmer was fed up, “Hold on!” she reached out and grabbed onto Bow and Adora’s arms.</p><p>“Glimmer, no!” she didn’t listen to Bows warning and teleported away.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Akil found C’yra in the same spot staring off into nowhere. “Well C’yra, I don’t know what you like so I got a little bit of everything.”</p><p>She only turned when the large plate was set down next to her. Before she went to pick up some of the heavenly smelling food she turned toward Akil, “Why do you call me that?”</p><p>Akil looked up from the plates, “You mean C’yra? That’s your name. Your birth name at least. What did they call you in the Horde?”</p><p>She reached out and pulled one of the heaping plates into her lap, “They always called me Catra.”</p><p>Akil looked very offended, “I’m sorry are you saying that for seventeen years you went by a derogatory term for magicats? As your name?” he scoffed, “Who even named you?”</p><p>Catra choked on the bird leg she was devouring, “Catra is a derogatory term? Wow, I knew Shadow Weaver hated me but damn.”</p><p>Akil glared at the shadows, “Of course it was the witch.'' After a moment he sighed and turned back toward C’yra. “So what are your thoughts?”</p><p>Catra looked up from the food and swallowed, “Well it all tastes better than a ration bar that’s for sure. This one has a weird aftertaste, but this one is my favorite.”</p><p>He smiled and nodded along, “So not a huge fan of turkey but you love a good trout. Noted.”</p><p>C’yra looked at him then back at the plate, “Got it.” she dug in once again.</p><p>The pair sat there talking about the different meats Akil had brought up before C’yra winced and hissed at the amber runestone. “What is it?”</p><p>“That damn stone won’t shut up! It keeps on humming.” she covered her ears trying to muffle the sound.</p><p>“You can hear it calling to you?”</p><p>She glared up at him, “Did you not hear me when you tackled me? It’s the whole reason I’m here. I wanted it to stop.”</p><p>“Well the only way to make it stop is to connect to it, I guess it decided that you were ready now.” he mused.</p><p>“What does that even mean?”</p><p>“Well to connect to a runestone is to become a conduit for its power. For example, the Amber houses the element of fire. Pretty much when you connect to it you get magical powers and can light stuff on fire.”</p><p>“Ok… so if I choose to connect with the Amber I can do magic? I don’t like magic all that much if you hadn’t guessed. Getting raised by Shadow Weaver has its drawbacks.”</p><p>He winced, “I can only imagine. But I do know that the runestone magic is very different from whatever perverted dark magic that witch uses.” he set a calming hand on C’yra’s shoulder. “If you aren’t ready yet you don’t have to connect with it.”</p><p>“It won’t feel anything like Shadow Weaver’s magic right? It won’t hurt?” C’yra’s voice was much smaller than she would like to admit.</p><p>“No kit, I remember when the Amber first called to Bast. She said it felt like a wave of warmth falling over your entire being. And it definitely hurt.”</p><p>C’yra thought on the information for a moment before she made a decision that would turn her whole life upside down. The magic wouldn’t hurt her, nothing bad would come from her connecting with the runestone, and that damn humming would finally go away. Logically there was absolutely no reason for C’yra to not connect with the runestone. Yet, what would Adora think? Even with the slim chance that Adora would listen to her after she learned that she was a princess, how would she react to learning that she accepted it so quickly?</p><p>The humming seemed to sense her inner turmoil and caressed her mind. Her worries washed away, either way, she was a princess. Powers or not she was a princess and the sooner she accepted that the sooner she could move on. Her resolve hardened as she looked up at Akil and asked, “How do I do it?”</p><p>A warm smile overtook his face as he looked down at her, “All you need to do is touch the stone. Reach out with your mind and the connection will form. May you be one with the flame.” The last sentence sounded like he had repeated it over a thousand times, and he deeply respected what it represented.</p><p>Catra took a deep breath before reaching up to the Amber’s glowing surface.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>“Ah! Glimmer!” Bow turned frantically towards his friend. “Glimmer? Glimmer!” he shook her shoulders trying to wake her up.</p><p>Glimmer groaned and slowly opened her eyes, “Did it work?”</p><p>Bow chuckled, “Yeah, it worked. Barely. Are you alright?”</p><p>“I'm fine.” she groaned again, “I think I used too much power getting us out of there.’</p><p>Bow looked down with a disapproving gaze, “I don't know who could've predicted that... Oh, right. Me.”</p><p>Glimmer sighed, “Bow…”</p><p>Bow continued, “Like an hour ago.”</p><p>“Bow!” she stopped him.</p><p>He sighed, “Sorry. I'm just glad you're okay. No more teleporting for a while, okay. You could really hurt yourself.”</p><p>“I'm fine, okay? Let's just get back to Bright Moon so I can recharge already.” she turned to Adora, “Why are you still here?”</p><p>Adora faced her, “What?”</p><p>Glimmer gave a strange look, “Bow and I are hardly a crack security team. You could've escaped at any time. Why didn't you?”</p><p>“I just-- I wanna figure out what's happening to me, and if I go back to the Fright Zone, then I'll never know. I never knew where I came from or who my family was. Shadow Weaver said it didn't matter who I was before, that-- that I was nothing before Hordak took me in. There's always been a part of me that I don't know anything about an-- and all of this, it feels familiar somehow. I don't know how else to explain it.’ she vented.</p><p>“Glimmer's mom knows more about First Ones' tech than anyone. She'll know what's going on with you and the sword for sure. So, if you want your questions answered, stick with us?” Bow set a hopeful hand on her shoulder.</p><p>Adora winced, “I really want to, but I came here with a friend and I don’t want to just leave her in the forest alone...”</p><p>Glimmer raised an eyebrow, “Wait if you came with someone, why isn’t she with you now?”</p><p>“Well she also came to follow something and they took us in different directions. I came for the sword and she came to find something else. I don’t know what it is, I didn’t ask.” Adora deflated.</p><p>“Ok, how about we go back to your meeting place and write her a note! That way when she comes back she knows where you are and can follow us.” Bow offered.</p><p>Adora perked up, “That would actually work! Can we?” Bow and Adora both gave Glimmer their best puppy dog eyes, and it was a very convincing sight.</p><p>She sighed, “ Let's go. We can go there and tell her we’re going to a village a few miles from here. They'll be able to give us and your friend a ride back to Bight Moon. We've wasted too much time already, so if she doesn’t show we move on.”</p><p>Adora smiled and nodded quickly, “Yes, of course.”</p><p>They took off back into the woods to find the skiff the pair arrived on.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Shadow Weaver glared down at Lonnie, “For the last time, where are Adora and Catra?”</p><p>Lonnie gulped, “I don't know Shadow Weaver. Like I said when we woke up for morning training they were gone.”</p><p>Shadow Weaver sighed, “Fine, it doesn’t matter. I already know where they are. We've been tracking them. Or at the very least Adora, and she is the only one that matters.” she turned and cast a spell on a large bowl of oil.</p><p>Lonnie winced at the harsh words. “Uh, then why did you ask me?” she asked.</p><p>Shadow Weaver looked back up at Lonnie, “Because you are going to bring them back.”</p><p>“Of course Shadow Weaver I won’t let you down.” Lonnie nodded and headed out of the sanctum.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>The moment C’yra’s hand touched the Amber, she was completely deaf to her surroundings. The only thing she could focus on was the raw power flowing through her veins. She felt a warmth start at her fingertips that quickly overtook her entire body. She felt herself relax into the warmth, and when she felt secure enough to move, she stepped away from the stone. When she finally lost contact with the stone, the warmth did not leave.</p><p>C’yra looked down at her hands and flexed them watching in awe at flames licked at her skin. </p><p>After what felt like years, she clenched her fists and extinguished the flames. That action seemed to snap her back to reality. She turned to see Akil looking at her with the widest smile she had ever seen.</p><p>He let out a hysterical laugh, “Watching that never stops amazing me.” he looked down and winced, “I’m going to go grab you a pair of clothes because those are ruined,” he turned to the door, only pausing in the opening to say, “Don’t burn down the palace please!”</p><p>C’yra watched him disappear before sitting down and messing around with the flames. She figured out she could make them change in size and create balls of concentrated flame that hovered over her palm. She sat there for nearly an hour getting accustomed to the fire before she heard a loud noise coming from the stairwell.</p><p>“Akil move. Why are you trying to stop me from going up there?” C’yra froze at the voice before quickly launching herself up into the vines and climbing out of sight.</p><p>“Bast you really shouldn’t go up there--” he was cut off by Bast opening the door and marching out.</p><p>C’yra watched her look around and her gaze caught on the now empty plates, “I’m sorry but were you seriously snacking up here and you just left your mess?!”</p><p>Akil froze before he slowly nodded along, “Yes yes exactly that, and I know you hate when I do that so I was on my way up here to clean it up before you got out of your meeting but you left it early.”</p><p>Bast glared at him as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck before she sighed, “Fine. clean it up. But while you do that can you tell me who else was up here?”</p><p>Akil’s jaw clenched, “What do you mean? It was just me up here.”</p><p>“Don’t even try it. I can smell them all over the place. So what, you had a date or something?” Bast leaned back against the railing just underneath C’yra.</p><p>Akil scoffed, “No.”</p><p>“So yes. Well next time you want to impress someone don’t take them to an off-limits area, I thought you knew better.” She sighed and started heading for the door, “When you’re done with that, come into the meeting room, we need to talk about what to do with Mosu. The situation is getting out of hand.” Only when her footsteps had long faded did Akil relax and call C’yra down.</p><p>“Come on C’yra. Sorry, it took me so long.”</p><p>She hopped down from her vine and grabbed the clothes from his belt, “It’s fine, I took the time to get used to the whole summoning fire thing.”</p><p>She pulled away with a pair of loose black pants that had gold stripes down the sides of them. The bottom of them was very similar to her current pants, but they were also gold and black. The shirt had two parts because everything just had to be confusing. There was a form-fitting maroon undershirt along with a jacket like cover that had two black pieces coming down in a ‘V’ across her chest. Both shirts had gold accents because whoever made them decided to be very extravagant.</p><p>“Why is there so much?” she looked up at Akil as he reached into a pouch in his belt. He paused then sheepishly pulled out three black and gold bands.</p><p>“These are the last parts I promise.” she glared up at him. “Go change on the other side of the wall, then I can help you adjust it.” he nudged her over to the back wall.</p><p>She went behind it and did as she was told. C’yra found that the clothes were very breathable and a lot more comfortable than the tight Horde uniform that she decided to just burn. The shirt was longer than she was used to and went down to her thighs. After a second of looking at the bands, she realized one was a sort of belt and the other two went on her forearms.</p><p>When she walked out a minute later, Akil perked up, “Ah, that’s a lot better.” He clapped his hands and moved some parts of the outfit around to look better, then nodded, “Well it’s been a hectic few hours, I have no doubt that you would like to rest-- what’s that look for?”</p><p>“How long have I been here?” her fingertips started to get warm from the nerves.</p><p>“Just under five hours I believe. Why what’s wrong?” C’yra’s eyes widened and her hand burst into flames before she quickly extinguished it.</p><p>“Ok so long story short, I came to the forest with someone and we agreed to meet back at our skiff. She’s probably worried about where I’m at so I need to get back there so she doesn’t think I’m dead.” she started pacing.</p><p>He set a hand on her shoulder, “Woah ok slow down, why don’t you go meet up with your friend and talk with her then come back down here to Halfmoon to give me an update. Forgive me for worrying but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you’re alive, I don’t want you to just run off and never return.”</p><p>C’yra sighed, “Yeah that’s understandable, thank you for the clothes and everything Akil, I’ll see you soon.”</p><p>He nodded down at her, “Of course princess, now you better get going.”</p><p>She flashed him a smile before leaping up into the vines and clambering to the cavern exit.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>When C’yra reached the skiff half an hour later, she was relieved to see it still there at all. “Oh good,” upon further inspection, she saw a note pinned to the handle by a golden arrow.</p><p>Hey Catra,<br/>Please don’t worry, I’m totally fine. I made some friends and we’re on our way to a nearby village. I don’t know the name of it but Bow drew you a little map so you could find us. Hopefully, I’ll see you there, I have so much to tell you it’s insane.<br/>-Adora :)</p><p>C’yra rubbed her temples, “Of course Adora made friends in the middle of the whispering woods.”</p><p>She sighed and found that the village was in the same direction as Halfmoon. She stretched her arms out before leaping into the trees.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Glimmer turned to Adora once they reached the edge of the village, “Okay, the jacket comes off.”</p><p>Adora stepped back, “Why?”</p><p>“If the villagers see a Horde soldier, they'll freak out.” she gestured to Adora’s clothes,” We gotta fix all this.”</p><p>She then proceeded to throw her jacket into the bushes and draped her cape over Adora’s shoulders.</p><p>Adora stood awkwardly, “I feel ridiculous.”</p><p>“That’s ‘cause you need something to tie it all together.” Bow placed a small pink flower in her hair.</p><p>She made an ugly face, “I don't like it.”</p><p>Glimmer sighed, “Point is, you don't look like a Horde soldier. Just keep a low profile. We'll be in and out.”</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Adora looked around the bustling folk telling stories and selling food, “What is this?”</p><p>Bow raised an eyebrow, “It's a festival. Like a big party. You don't have parties in the Fright Zone? “</p><p>She glanced around and nodded unconvincingly, “Oh, right, parties. I mean, yeah, pfft, of course. I, uh-- I don't know what that is.”</p><p>Bow’s jaw dropped in equal parts shock and disgust.</p><p>Glimmer sighed and turned back to them, “Did you even hear me? I said, in and out!”</p><p>Bow pulled out the puppy dog eyes once again, “She has never been to a party before, Glimmer! This is serious.” he turned back to Adora, “So, seriously? No parties ever?  What do you guys do on your birthday? “</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Bow almost started crying, “No birthdays?! How is your life this sad?”</p><p>She shrugged before she gasped at the creature before her, “What. Is. That?” </p><p>Bow glanced at her, “That would be a horse.”</p><p>Adora’s eyes were practically glowing as the horse neighed, “It's majestic.”</p><p>Bow guided her toward it, “You wanna go meet it?”</p><p>She bushed back against him, “What? No!”</p><p>He moved her hand onto the horse’s snout, “Come on, it's okay. See, he likes you.”</p><p>Adora gasped at the contact, “This is the best day of my life.”</p><p>Glimmer crossed her arms at their antics, “Bow.”</p><p>He pouted, “Come on, I know you like her, too.”</p><p>Their attention was drawn from the horse by a loud rumbling approaching the village.</p><p>Adora looked around frantically as gunfire erupted from the tree line, “What's going on?”</p><p>Glimmer grabbed their arms and pulled them behind a building, “It's the Horde!”</p><p>“Why are they here? The people of Thaymor aren't a threat.” Bow asked as he pulled out his bow.</p><p>Adora paused, suddenly looking ashen, “Did you say Thaymor? This can't be Thaymor.”</p><p>Glimmer turned to her, “Did you know something about this?”</p><p>Adora stuttered, “No. I mean, yes. But there's a mistake. Thaymor's supposed to be a heavily fortified rebel fortress, not a civilian town!”</p><p>Glimmer scoffed, “Do you really think that matters to them?’</p><p>She shook her head in denial, “This is a big mistake. I just need to talk to them. Get as many people out as you can. I'm sorry!”</p><p>Before she could run out into the battle, someone hopped down from the roof and knocked her flat on her ass. Glimmer reacted quickly and shot a beam of light at the aggressor.</p><p>C’yra deflected it with a wave of fire from her hand, she glared up at glimmer, “Watch it Sparkles!”</p><p>“Who are you?!” Glimmer got into a defensive stance.</p><p>“I’m C’yra, Adora’s friend that came with her here on the skiff. Calm down.” she reached down and helped Adora to her feet as Glimmer was pulled away into the battle, “You are not allowed to go into battle unarmed and-- What are you wearing?”</p><p>“Uh-” Adora pulled the flower from her hair and looked Catra up and down, “I could ask you the same thing. And what do you mean? Your name is Catra?”</p><p>C’yra winced, “I learned a couple of hours ago that that is actually the equivalent of calling someone a bitch, so I’m just gonna go by my birth name from now on.”</p><p>Adora blanched, “Oh wow, ok.” she took that in for a moment before looking back at the tanks coming in, “I need to get out there and stop them. This is a civilian town. These aren't insurgents. They're innocent people.”</p><p>C’yra grabbed her arm, “I know that. So do they. I know you were the most brainwashed out of all of us because you were Shadow Weaver’s favorite, but by now you must know that the Horde isn’t all they talked it up to be.”</p><p>A soldier came up to them and tried to grab them, upon closer inspection C’yra and Adora recognized her as Lonnie. “Lonnie! Hey you know these are innocent people right?” C’yra asked already knowing the answer.</p><p>She scoffed, “Yeah, innocent people who kidnapped two Horde officers. Let's get back to the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver is freaking out and it isn’t pretty.”</p><p>Adora and Catra looked at each other before Adora spoke, “No, I’m definitely not going back there to just get brainwashed again.”</p><p>“Yeah, I would love to go back but I kind of have a kingdom I have to help rule so-” she picked at her claws, “Sorry but my schedule is kinda full.”</p><p>Both Lonnie and Adora were giving her a weird look before Lonnie snorted, “I’m sorry but are you trying to tell me you’re a princess? Ha! Good one Catra.”</p><p>In response, she launched a small fireball next to her head. “Yeah, so funny story. I kinda am a princess and my real name is C’yra.”</p><p>Lonnie and Adora both looked at her speechless before she rolled her eyes and punched Lonnie in the face, knocking her unconscious. She pulled the baton from her belt and passed it to Adora.</p><p>“Etheria to Adora! Come on we’re in the middle of a warzone you can’t just zone out!”</p><p>Adora snapped out of it, “Uh yeah. Right. Battle. Let's go.” she followed C’yra out to the soldiers.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>“Ah! I think that's all of them. What do we do?” Bow called out to Glimmer.</p><p>“There's nothing we can do. You're almost out of arrows and I'm almost out of magic.” she grimaced.</p><p>Bow glared at her, “You can't say that. You're Glimmer. You throw yourself into every fight, no matter how hopeless.”</p><p>Glimmer groaned, “Ugh. Every decision I've made in the past day has almost gotten us killed. My mom's right, I'm not ready for this.”</p><p>“No. You are not giving up now. I’m sorry your mom doesn't see how strong you are. You can do this, Glimmer, and you’re not alone.”</p><p>She sighed and stood straighter, “You're right. We need Adora.”</p><p>Bow paused, “Didn't she just sell us out to the Horde?”</p><p>Glimmer shook her head, “I don't think she did. We need to find her. She can help us and maybe her friend can too. Just trust me. Okay?”</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>C’yra kicked back a couple of soldiers with a wave of flame, “Oh, man. That was a lot stronger than I thought. Whoops.” she turned to see where Adora was and saw a soldier coming up behind her. </p><p>Before she could act, Glimmer intercepted them and knocked them unconscious. “Watch out!”</p><p>“Nice one Sparkles!” she called out before turning back to her own fight.</p><p>_-_-_</p><p>Adora turned to face Glimmer, “What are you doing? Why did you save me?”</p><p>Glimmer clenched her jaw, “We need you. We need She-Ra. I should've given this back to you in the ruin.” she passed Adora the sword. “You could've saved us and I knew that. But I was stupid. And a jerk. And I'm sorry!”</p><p>Adora sighed, “You're not a jerk. I'm the Horde soldier. How do you know you can trust me now?”</p><p>“I don't. But I hope I can. I feel like maybe you're here to help us.”</p><p>Adora nodded and returned to the battle, blade in hand. On instinct, she pointed the blade towards the sky and shouted, “For the honor of Grayskull!”</p><p>A bright light encased her and she suddenly felt taller. She-Ra was back. The rest of the battle was a blur, though it couldn’t have lasted long. When Adora snapped back to reality she was kneeling in a large crater. Horde tanks were scattered around her, and she saw several soldiers laying still in them. She chose not to think about it too hard.</p><p>Luckily she didn’t have to because C’yra was making her way over to her. “Ok wow. And I thought fire was cool. That was amazing.” C’yra’s pupils widened as she helped Adora up from the floor.</p><p>She faintly heard a retreat being ordered out by a force captain.</p><p>Glimmer jumped down into the crater and launched herself at Adora, “You did it!”</p><p>“I did?”</p><p>Glimmer nodded and smiled, “You saved us. You saved everyone!”</p><p>Adora chuckled, “I did it.” her expression turned sour, “I turned against the Horde. I turned against the Horde!  I can't go back now. Where am I supposed to go?”</p><p>C’yra turned Adora to face her, “Wow, first of all, what am I chopped liver? Second, if all else fails I can probably convince Akil to let you stay with us in Halfmoon.”</p><p>Glimmer smiled at C’yra, “We were actually on our way to Brightmoon before the battle started. We needed to go talk to my mom, queen Angella, about Adora being She-ra.”</p><p>“So that’s what the huge buff lady is called, cool.” C’yra smiled at them before she looked back into the woods, “I should probably get back to Akil, he’s probably already pacing. Sparkles Arrow guy, keep Adora out of trouble for me will ya? And Adora don’t make it hard for them.” She warned.</p><p>"Yes yes yes. Soon though we're going to have a long chat about the whole princess thing going on. You need to explain that to me." Adora crossed her arms and C'yra rolled her eyes but nodded.</p><p>“No problem fire lady!” Bow said before pulling everyone into a group hug including a horse, “Best-friends squad! Wait, whose horse was this?”</p><p>C’yra pulled out just to be grabbed by Adora. “Don’t do anything dumb, ok?”</p><p>She rolled her eyes before nodding, “Of course. Have fun in Brightmoon.” she nodded to the group before running back into the woods.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This took me forever, but I how you like it :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>5285 words. It's 2 am.  I stared doing this to practice illustrating stories from scripts and ended up turning it into a magicat/princess!Catra AU... shit.</p><p>Well hope you enjoy either way, and give me feed back on if this was even remotely coherent. It would mean a lot :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>